Challenging our beliefs

They say that by the age of seven our brains are completely hard wired and it can be near impossible to change ingrained beliefs of an individual. (This does underline the importance of those early years and doing our best to grow our children in an environment where they feel loved, safe and are encouraged to think and be brave in being themselves).

Of course, as we continue to grow we are taught to ‘conform’ into the society or community that we are raised in. This can be a good and a bad thing – depending on the health of the society. Within these environments we are taught (often unconsciously) who we are and how we fit in…what to like, what not to, who to like…and not, what is true and what is not true.

Obviously, the results of these ‘beliefs’ are evident in our daily lives and within our communities. It’s fair to say that there is a lot of unhealthy societies out there at the moment – we are, sadly, seeing the evidence of this every day. And it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

A traumatic experience in my mid-thirties really had me questioning life. I started doing a lot of reading and soul searching. I remember one book and all the way through it I was going ‘ah-ha, that makes good sense – why had I never questioned that before?’ I hadn’t even realised that I held these beliefs, let alone learn that they simply were not true – for me.

It blew a lot of things out of the water. It was like an awakening.

This is not to say that I let go of all my limiting beliefs overnight. Far from it. I continue to challenge my thinking and get tested on a regular basis. Fortunately – I am committed to being all I can be and thus welcome these opportunities – although I don’t always recognise them for what they are initially and spend a bit of time ‘fighting’ the challenge.

So, this is a big subject. The point I really want to make in this blog is that we have been taught a lot of things that has moved us away from recognising just how amazing we are. And that each of us has something significant to contribute to our society. Most importantly though, to do this, we must believe in our own self-worth - that we are precious and valued.

In today’s world, we need to challenge the outdated and unhelpful beliefs that swirl around us and within us. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s not. The key thing is, that through this journey, your inner light will shine brighter and your life will go from strength to strength.